Full opinion text
TINDER, Circuit Judge. Cindy Abbott and her adult son Travis Abbott (collectively, the Abbotts) brought this action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against Sangamon County, Sheriff Neil Williamson, and Deputy Troy Sweeney, each asserting Fourth Amendment claims of false arrest, false imprisonment, and excessive force. The district court granted summary judgment for Deputy Sweeney on all claims, and the County and Sheriff Williamson were subsequently dismissed. We affirm the district court’s judgment with respect to all of Travis’s claims because Deputy Sweeney had probable cause to arrest Travis and is entitled to qualified immunity on Travis’s excessive-force claim. We also affirm the district court’s judgment with respect to Cindy’s false-arrest and false-imprisonment claims on the basis of qualified immunity. But we vacate the judgment with respect to Cindy’s excessive-force claim and remand for further proceedings. I A Given the procedural posture of this case, we view the facts in a light favorable to the Abbotts, the non movants. E.g., Vodak v. City of Chicago, 639 F.3d 738, 740 (7th Cir.2011). But we also point out several of the material differences between the Abbotts’ version of events and Deputy Sweeney’s narrative. On the morning of June 25, 2007, Sanga-mon County animal control officers responded to a complaint that the Abbotts’ dog, a Chow mix named Biscuit, had been running loose on Lyons Road in Spaulding, Illinois. After visiting the complainants’ residence, Animal Control Officer John Moore went to the Abbotts’ residence and observed twenty-year-old Travis Abbott running into the house and Biscuit unchained in the garage area. (The record indicates that up to two additional animal control officers were present, but it is unclear whether they arrived with Officer Moore.) Over the next hour-and-a-half Officer Moore attempted to corral Biscuit, but Travis interfered with those efforts by running to different doors and windows in the house and calling out Biscuit’s name, which prompted Biscuit to run to that area of the house. At one point, Travis told Moore and another animal control officer that if they touched his dog he would “knock them out.” Travis shouted additional threats at Officer Moore while displaying his middle finger, at one point yelling, “If you don’t leave I’m going to kick your ass.” These repeated threats prompted Officer Moore to call the police. When informed that the police had been called, Travis locked himself inside but continued calling Biscuit to different areas of the house. At some point, Travis called his mother, Cindy Abbott, who was at work, and asked her to come home. Sergeant James Lawley of the Riverton Police Department was the first police officer to arrive at the Abbotts’ residence, but he was instructed to standby until a San-gamon County Deputy arrived. The animal control officers informed Sergeant Lawley that Travis had obstructed their efforts to capture Biscuit and had threatened them by shouting, “If you touch my dog I am going to kick your ass[;] I am going to knock you out.” Sergeant Lawley successfully summoned Travis to the house’s front window and then asked him to step outside and talk; Travis responded, “Fuck you. I am no[t] coming out there.” A few minutes later, Deputy Sweeney arrived and was told by Sergeant Lawley that Travis had threatened the animal control officers while making a fist; Sweeney attempted to coax Travis out of the house but was unsuccessful. Around this time, Cindy arrived home and parked her Jeep Liberty in the driveway behind Sweeney’s squad car. Deputy Sweeney talked with Cindy and requested that she convince Travis to come outside and tell his side of the story; Sweeney advised Cindy that he could get a warrant if Travis refused. Cindy went inside the house and came back outside a short time later with Travis in tow. Upon questioning by Deputy Sweeney, Travis admitted that he had verbally threatened the animal control officers, knowing them to be animal control officers. Sweeney informed Travis that he was under arrest for obstruction and assault. Travis protested and began backing away, but Sergeant Lawley grabbed his arm and advised him not to resist. Sweeney handcuffed Travis’s arms behind his back, double locked the handcuffs, and confirmed the proper fit. Once handcuffed, Travis became agitated and angry with Cindy, yelling and cursing at her. And as he was being escorted to Sweeney’s police cruiser, Travis yelled to the animal control officers, “Thanks a lot assholes!” Sweeney conducted a quick pat-down search and then placed Travis in the backseat of his squad car, fastening him in with a seatbelt. Once Travis had been handcuffed, Cindy had gone back into the house to use the restroom and to lock up. When she came back outside, she stood in the driveway and talked with Sergeant Lawley. At this point, Deputy Sweeney had begun backing his squad car out of the driveway, which required him to maneuver around Cindy’s vehicle. Meanwhile, Travis had become even more agitated in the backseat of the squad car. He had elevated his legs, struggled around, and successfully maneuvered his hands from behind his back to the front of his body; he had also begun screaming for his mother to get him out. (According to Sweeney, Travis had also unfastened his seatbelt and was reaching for the door, but Travis denies this.) Sweeney’s squad car that day was not equipped with a partition or a prisoner-transport shield, so when Sweeney saw Travis fidgeting around he reached back and attempted to gain control of Travis, all the while still trying to navigate his car backward around Cindy’s vehicle. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Sweeney’s foot slipped off the brake pedal as he was trying to control Travis and his cruiser rolled into Cindy’s vehicle. Cindy, who was still speaking with Sergeant Lawley, began screaming when the vehicles collided. Lawley attempted to calm her, telling her that Sweeney had merely bumped her vehicle and that any damage would be covered by insurance. Cindy did not calm down. Instead, she began walking toward her vehicle and the squad car to inspect the damage and was screaming, “I can’t believe you hit my vehicle!” Deputy Sweeney placed his cruiser in park and exited so that he could go to the rear passenger-side door where, according to him, Travis was attempting to escape. But as he exited the vehicle, he observed Cindy, upset and screaming, moving toward his location at the front driver-side door of the squad car. According to Sweeney, he was concerned that Cindy was trying to help her son escape, for Travis was still “going nuts” in the backseat of the car. As a result, he held up his hand and twice ordered Cindy to stop, but she continued on toward the vehicles. Cindy does not recall whether Sweeney ordered her to stop, though she does recall that he attempted to calm her. According to Cindy, she was walking toward her vehicle to inspect the damage when Deputy Sweeney, without warning, shot her in the abdomen with his taser, causing her to fall to the ground. Specifically, she explained that “something hit me and it dropped me to my knees and then on my back and I was immobilized.” As she was screaming from the pain, Deputy Sweeney came closer to her and yelled for her to roll over onto her stomach, but she could not move so Sweeney hit her with another jolt of electricity. After the second jolt, Sweeney rolled Cindy over onto her stomach and handcuffed her with her arms behind her back. With Cindy secure, Sweeney then went to the other side of the squad car to resecure Travis. and told her if she did not comply that she would be tased again”; Cindy again gave no response, so Sweeney tased her a second time. After the second tasing, Cindy rolled over onto her stomach without help and placed her hands behind her back. Sergeant Lawley placed her in handcuffs, while Sweeney went to deal with Travis. Sweeney disputes Cindy’s version. According to Sweeney and Sergeant Lawley, Cindy was screaming about her son being arrested and her car being hit. When Cindy disobeyed Sweeney’s orders to stop, he warned her twice that if she failed to comply he would use his taser. And when she continued approaching, he shot her in the abdomen with his taser, delivered an electric shock, and caused her to drop to the ground. Sergeant Lawley claims that after the first tasing, Cindy disobeyed Sweeney’s order to turn over and attempted to get up, so Sweeney zapped her a second time. Sweeney, however, testified that he “began giving her commands to turn over onto her stomach so that she could be handcuffed,” but she was not responsive so he “again commanded her Travis testified that when Sweeney arrived at the rear passenger-side door, he “got on top of me and dropped an elbow on my throat and just tried to ta[s]e me. The top was off of it, the ta[s]er.... And he tried to getting [sic] me all over my whole body. And he did, he kept getting me, getting me, getting me. I was trying to fight with him.” He testified further that Sweeney told him “just let me get you one good time” and Sweeney started “getting” him all over his arm with the taser, delivering “little second bursts.” Travis also claims that once Sweeney pulled him out of the car he threw him on the ground, gave him “the knee bomb,” and used the taser three more times on his back. Travis denies that he was attempting to escape and that he was acting wild when Sweeney opened the rear passenger-side door. But he does not dispute that he was struggling with Sweeney in the back of the police cruiser and at one point was “out powering” Sweeney. Deputy Sweeney’s recollection is significantly different. According to him, while he was engaged with Cindy, Travis was kicking the rear passenger-side-door window in an attempt to escape (he could not simply open the door because the child-safety switch was on, so he was trying to kick his way out). And according to Officer Moore, when Sweeney opened the car door Travis “continued to act wild and attempt to escape and fight with Deputy Sweeney.” Sergeant Lawley went to assist Sweeney after he had secured Cindy, and when he arrived at the rear passenger-side door, Sweeney was on top of Travis, but Travis had his hands in front of him and was fighting. Sweeney told Travis to stop resisting but to no avail; ultimately he had to use his taser to subdue Travis. Officer Moore stated that Sweeney “drive stunned” Travis “until he stopped fighting.” According to Deputy Sweeney, he used his taser on Travis only inside the car. Once Travis was subdued, Deputy Sweeney and Sergeant Lawley removed Travis from the backseat and placed him on the ground in a prone position. Sweeney then unlocked the handcuffs and reapplied them with Travis’s hands behind his back. Travis complied with Sweeney’s order to remain lying face down. Cindy could hear Travis screaming but she could not see him; in fact, she did not see Travis from the time he was first handcuffed until later at the police station. After Cindy had been lying on her stomach with her hands cuffed behind her back for what she thinks was thirty minutes, Deputy Sweeney returned and sat her up. Sweeney then had a female animal control officer remove the taser prongs from Cindy’s abdomen. He then told Cindy that he would summon another officer to transport her. Eventually, Cindy and Travis were transported to the police station in separate vehicles. They were held at the jail for about eight hours until Cindy’s parents (Travis’s grandparents) posted bail. Cindy was never informed of the charges against her. She hired an attorney to represent her and Travis at their court date, but she never heard anything further and assumed that the matter had been dropped. B In 2009, the Abbotts filed this action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 in Illinois state court, but the defendants removed the case to the Central District of Illinois, see 28 U.S.C. § 1441. On August 19, 2011, the Abbotts filed their second amended complaint, in which they each asserted claims of false arrest, false imprisonment, and excessive force. The district court granted Sweeney’s motion for summary judgment. See Abbott v. Sangamon County, No. 09-3261, 2011 WL 5244259 (C.D.I11. Nov. 3, 2011). The court concluded that Deputy Sweeney had probable cause to arrest both Travis and Cindy and that, in any event, he was cloaked with qualified immunity. Id. at *5-6, 10. On Travis’s excessive-force claim, the court concluded that Sweeney was “entitled to qualified immunity because a reasonable officer could have believed that he was entitled to use force on an arrestee who continued to physically resist or who failed to submit to the officer’s authority.” Id. at *9 (citation omitted). And “based on the undisputed fact that Deputy Sweeney used the taser until Travis stopped fighting, Deputy Sweeney’s use of force was no more than that necessary to gain control of Travis.” Id. (citation omitted). On Cindy’s excessive-force claim, the district court concluded that Cindy had admitted that she disobeyed direct orders to stop and roll over on her stomach, so “[a] reasonable officer would have believed that employing a taser gun [the first time] ... would not violate Cindy’s constitutional rights.” Id. (citation omitted). As to the second employment of the taser, the court dismissed Cindy’s testimony that she did not comply because she could not move because “ ‘what matters for this question is not the arrestee’s perspective but rather the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene.’ ” Id. at *10 (citation omitted). Subsequently, the Abbotts filed a motion to dismiss the remaining defendants as well as a motion to alter the judgment. On January 5, 2012, the district court dismissed the remaining defendants without prejudice, denied the motion to alter the judgment, and entered final judgment against the Abbotts. This appeal followed. II We review de novo the district court’s grant of summary judgment. E.g., Suarez v. Town of Ogden Dunes, Ind., 581 F.3d 591, 595 (7th Cir.2009). Summary judgment is proper “if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R.Civ.P. 56(a); see also Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322-23, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). Governmental actors performing discretionary functions are entitled to qualified immunity from suits for damages “insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known.” Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 818, 102 S.Ct. 2727, 73 L.Ed.2d 396 (1982) (citations omitted); accord Messerschmidt v. Millender, — U.S. -, 132 S.Ct. 1235, 1244, 182 L.Ed.2d 47 (2012). “Qualified immunity balances two important interests—the need to hold public officials accountable when they exercise power irresponsibly and the need to shield officers from harassment, distraction, and liability when they perform their duties reasonably.” Pearson v. Callahan, 555 U.S. 223, 231, 129 S.Ct. 808, 172 L.Ed.2d 565 (2009). It gives public officials “breathing room to make reasonable but mistaken judgments about open legal questions. When properly applied, it protects ‘all but the plainly incompetent or those who knowingly violate the law.’ ” Ashcroft v. al-Kidd, — U.S. -, 131 S.Ct. 2074, 2085, 179 L.Ed.2d 1149 (2011) (quoting Malley v. Briggs, 475 U.S. 335, 341, 106 S.Ct. 1092, 89 L.Ed.2d 271 (1986)); see also Anderson v. Creighton, 483 U.S. 635, 646, 107 S.Ct. 3034, 97 L.Ed.2d 523 (1987) (“The general rule of qualified immunity is intended to provide government officials with the ability ‘reasonably to anticipate when their conduct may give rise to liability for damages.’ ” (brackets and citation omitted)). To overcome the defendant’s invocation of qualified immunity, the plaintiffs must show both (1) that the facts make out a constitutional violation, and (2) that the constitutional right was “clearly established” at the time of the official’s alleged misconduct. E.g., al-Kidd, 131 S.Ct. at 2080; Chelios v. Heavener, 520 F.3d 678, 691 (7th Cir.2008). Though once required to determine whether a violation occurred before determining whether the right was clearly established, see Saucier v. Katz, 533 U.S. 194, 200-01, 121 S.Ct. 2151, 150 L.Ed.2d 272 (2001), courts now have discretion to grant immunity on the basis that the right was not clearly established without determining whether there was a violation in the first place, see Pearson, 555 U.S. at 227, 129 S.Ct. 808, abrogating Saucier, 533 U.S. at 200-01, 121 S.Ct. 2151. A We begin with the Abbotts’ false-arrest and false-imprisonment claims. The existence of probable cause to arrest is an absolute defense to any § 1983 claim against a police officer for false arrest or false imprisonment. Mustafa v. City of Chicago, 442 F.3d 544, 547 (7th Cir.2006). Probable cause to justify an arrest exists if the totality of the facts and circumstances known to the officer at the time of the arrest would warrant a reasonable, prudent person in believing that the arrestee had committed, was committing, or was about to commit a crime. See Thayer v. Chiczewski, 705 F.3d 237, 246 (7th Cir.2012); see also Michigan v. De-Fillippo, 443 U.S. 31, 37, 99 S.Ct. 2627, 61 L.Ed.2d 343 (1979); Beck v. Ohio, 379 U.S. 89, 91, 85 S.Ct. 223, 13 L.Ed.2d 142 (1964). As the term suggests, probable cause deals not with hard certainties but with probabilities. Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 231, 103 S.Ct. 2317, 76 L.Ed.2d 527 (1983); Suarez, 581 F.3d at 595. Yet, although it requires something more than a hunch, probable cause does not require a finding that it was more likely than not that the arrestee was engaged in criminal activity—the officer’s belief that the arrestee was committing a crime need only be reasonable. See Henry v. United States, 361 U.S. 98, 102, 80 S.Ct. 168, 4 L.Ed.2d 134 (1959); Fox v. Hayes, 600 F.3d 819, 833 (7th Cir.2010). It is a practical, commonsense, nontechnical, and fluid conception that deals with “the factual and practical considerations of everyday life on which reasonable and prudent men, not legal technicians, act.” Brinegar v. United States, 338 U.S. 160, 175, 69 S.Ct. 1302, 93 L.Ed. 1879 (1949); accord United States v. Reed, 443 F.3d 600, 603 (7th Cir.2006). Determining whether an officer had probable cause to arrest entails a purely objective inquiry; the officer’s subjective state of mind and beliefs are irrelevant. Whren v. United States, 517 U.S. 806, 813, 116 S.Ct. 1769, 135 L.Ed.2d 89 (1996); Tebbens v. Mushol, 692 F.3d 807, 819 (7th Cir. 2012). Although our focus is on what the officer knew at the time of the arrest, Devenpeck v. Alford, 543 U.S. 146, 152, 125 S.Ct. 588, 160 L.Ed.2d 537 (2004), we must determine whether those facts and circumstances, “ ‘viewed from the standpoint of an objectively reasonable police officer, amount to’ probable cause,” Maryland v. Pringle, 540 U.S. 366, 371, 124 S.Ct. 795, 157 L.Ed.2d 769 (2003) (quoting Ornelas v. United States, 517 U.S. 690, 696, 116 S.Ct. 1657, 134 L.Ed.2d 911 (1996)). Cognizant that police officers operate in the real world, often in rapidly unfolding and even chaotic circumstances, we view the facts not “ ‘as an omniscient observer would perceive them but ... as they would have appeared to a reasonable person in the position of the arresting officer—seeing what he saw, hearing what he heard.’ ” Carmichael v. Vill. of Palatine, Ill., 605 F.3d 451, 457 (7th Cir.2010) (emphasis omitted) (quoting Mahoney v. Kesery, 976 F.2d 1054, 1057 (7th Cir.1992)). Usually in a § 1983 false-arrest case the jury determines whether the arrest was supported by probable cause; but if the underlying facts are undisputed, the court can make that decision on summary judgment. Chelios, 520 F.3d at 686; cf. Ornelas, 517 U.S. at 691, 116 S.Ct. 1657 (appellate courts review de novo ultimate question of probable cause). The probable-cause standard inherently allows room for reasonable mistakes, see Brinegar, 338 U.S. at 176, 69 S.Ct. 1302, but qualified immunity affords an added layer of protection by shielding officers from “suit for damages if ‘a reasonable officer could have believed [the arrest] to be lawful, in light of clearly established law and the information the [arresting] officers possessed.’ ” Hunter v. Bryant, 502 U.S. 224, 227, 112 S.Ct. 534, 116 L.Ed.2d 589 (1991) (per curiam) (second alteration in original) (quoting Anderson, 483 U.S. at 641, 107 S.Ct. 3034); see, e.g., Fleming v. Livingston Cnty., Ill., 674 F.3d 874, 880 (7th Cir. 2012). Often termed “arguable probable cause,” Thayer, 705 F.3d at 247, qualified immunity in this context protects officers who reasonably but mistakenly believe that probable cause exists, Hunter, 502 U.S. at 227, 112 S.Ct. 534. Though at first blush similar, the arguable-probable-cause inquiry is separate from the probable-cause inquiry, Fleming, 674 F.3d at 880; whereas an arrest not supported by probable cause is a constitutional violation, an arrest not supported by arguable probable cause is a violation of a “clearly established” constitutional right, see Hunter, 502 U.S. at 227, 112 S.Ct. 534; McComas v. Brickley, 673 F.3d 722, 725 (7th Cir. 2012). The existence of probable cause or arguable probable cause depends, in the first instance, on the elements of the predicate criminal offense(s) as defined by state law. DeFillippo, 443 U.S. at 36, 99 S.Ct. 2627; Thayer, 705 F.3d at 246-47. There is some dispute as to precisely what Deputy Sweeney told Travis he was being arrested for, but this is immaterial because an arrest can be supported by probable cause that the arrestee committed any crime, regardless of the officer’s belief as to which crime was at issue, Devenpeck, 543 U.S. at 153, 125 S.Ct. 588; Fox, 600 F.3d at 837. It is similarly immaterial that Cindy was not informed of the basis for her arrest. See Devenpeck, 543 U.S. at 155, 125 S.Ct. 588 (“While it is assuredly good police practice to inform a person of the reason for his arrest at the time he is taken into custody, we have never held that to be constitutionally required.”). 1 Deputy Sweeney argues, and the district court concluded, that he had probable cause to arrest Travis either for assault or disorderly conduct (or both) under Illinois law. Whether Sweeney did, of course, depends on the facts known to him at the time of the arrest. E.g., Tebbens, 692 F.3d at 816. There is no serious question that Travis was under arrest when Sweeney told him he was under arrest and placed him in handcuffs. Cf. Hayes v. Florida, 470 U.S. 811, 813-17, 105 S.Ct. 1643, 84 L.Ed.2d 705 (1985); Dunaway v. New York, 442 U.S. 200, 206-16, 99 S.Ct. 2248, 60 L.Ed.2d 824 (1979). In Illinois, misdemeanor assault occurs when a person “knowingly engages in conduct which places another in reasonable apprehension of receiving a battery.” 720 ILCS 5/12-1 (a). Words alone seldom if ever are sufficient to constitute an assault; rather, there must be an accompanying gesture that is either inherently threatening or made so by the accompanying words. Kijonka v. Seitzinger, 363 F.3d 645, 647 (7th Cir.2004) (Illinois law); People v. Floyd, 278 Ill.App.3d 568, 215 Ill. Dec. 324, 663 N.E.2d 74, 76 (1996); see Fox, 600 F.3d at 838 (no probable cause where plaintiffs statement was not “accompanied by a threatening gesture, such as a raised fist”). And assault lies only if the threatening gesture creates in the victim an objectively reasonable apprehension of an imminent battery. See Kijonka, 363 F.3d at 647-48; Floyd, 215 Ill.Dec. 324, 663 N.E.2d at 75-76. We have little difficulty concluding that Sweeney had probable cause to arrest Travis for assault. When Sweeney arrived at the scene, Sergeant Lawley told him that Travis had threatened to wallop the animal control officers if they touched Biscuit and that Travis had made a fist while shouting at the officers. Thus, at the time of the arrest, Sweeney knew that Travis had threatened the animal control officers with words and at least one accompanying gesture; that the threats had been conditioned on the officers’ successfully corralling Biscuit; and that the officers had considered the threats serious enough to warrant calling for police assistance. See, e.g., Woods v. City of Chicago, 234 F.3d 979, 996 (7th Cir.2000) (probable cause to arrest where plaintiff wielded lead pipe while threatening to kill victim); People v. Preis, 27 Ill.2d 315, 189 N.E.2d 254, 256-57 (1963) (disgruntled client committed assault with intent to murder where she told lawyer that she was going to shoot him, placed her hand in her bulging coat pocket, and stood up); People v. Ferguson, 181 Ill.App.3d 950, 130 Ill.Dec. 551, 537 N.E.2d 880, 881-82 (1989) (defendant committed assault when he reached into vehicle’s trunk and threatened to “kick [victim’s] ass”). It is true that Sweeney did almost no independent investigation after Sergeant Lawley apprised him of the situation, but he was not required to do so, because “[o]nce a reasonably credible witness informs an officer that a suspect has committed a crime, the police have probable cause to arrest the suspect,” Mustafa, 442 F.3d at 548; see also Kelley v. Myler, 149 F.3d 641, 647 (7th Cir.1998) (probable cause to arrest plaintiff for trespass based on complaint; officers not required to verify that plaintiff had crossed property line). Travis makes no argument that it was unreasonable for Sweeney to rely on Lawley’s information or for Lawley to rely on the animal control officers’ complaint— that is, he makes no claim that those witnesses were not reasonably credible. See, e.g., Holmes v. Vill. of Hoffman Estates, 511 F.3d 673, 680 (7th Cir.2007) (officer entitled to rely on information from fellow law enforcement officer); Sheik-Abdi v. McClellan, 37 F.3d 1240, 1247 (7th Cir. 1994) (officers entitled to rely on information from paramedic). And the only additional information Sweeney learned prior to the arrest came from Travis and corroborated much of what Sweeney had already been told. Travis does not dispute any of this. Rather, he contends that there was no probable cause to arrest him for assault because he made the threats and gestures while he was inside the house, so he could not have placed the animal control officers in apprehension of an imminent battery. It is unclear whether Travis was inside the entire time he was making the threats— the record indicates that Travis did not lock himself inside the house until after Officer Moore had called the police, suggesting that he may have been outside beforehand, and Sergeant Lawley attested that when he arrived Travis was standing outside on the porch—but this lack of clarity in the record is not material. Even assuming that Travis was inside the house when he made the threats and accompanying gesture, it is difficult to understand how Officer Moore’s apprehension of a battery was any less imminent. The threat was conditioned on Moore touching or capturing Biscuit, which he was trying to do. Had the officer successfully corralled the dog, Travis could have made good on his threats simply by stepping outside and engaging the officer in fisticuffs—he retained control over his ability to carry out his threats. Cf. People v. Kettler, 121 Ill. App.3d 1, 76 Ill.Dec. 598, 459 N.E.2d 7, 11 (1984) (no assault where arrestee had been strapped to gurney). In any event, Travis does not contend that Sergeant Lawley or anyone else informed Sweeney that Travis had made the threats and gestures while locked inside the house. Cf. Gramenos v. Jewel Cos., 797 F.2d 432, 439 (7th Cir. 1986) (“Probable cause does not depend on the witness turning out to have been right; it’s what the police know, not whether they know the truth, that matters.”). Thus, even when viewing the facts in Travis’s favor, Deputy Sweeney clearly had probable cause to arrest him for assault. As if this were not enough, Deputy Sweeney also had probable cause to arrest Travis for disorderly conduct under Illinois law. See 720 ILCS 5/26-l(a)(l) (“A person commits disorderly conduct when he knowingly ... [d]oes any act in such unreasonable manner as to alarm or disturb another and to provoke a breach of the peace____”). In Illinois, “[t]o commit disorderly conduct, ‘a person must engage in conduct that: (1) is unreasonable; (2) alarms or disturbs another; and (3) threatens to provoke or provokes a breach of the peace.’ ” Thayer, 705 F.3d at 248 (citation omitted). The unreasonableness of the conduct depends on both the conduct itself and the circumstances in which the conduct occurs. Biddle v. Martin, 992 F.2d 673, 677 (7th Cir.1993). But the conduct at issue need not occur in the public square to threaten to provoke or to provoke a breach of the peace. See People v. Davis, 82 Ill.2d 534, 45 Ill.Dec. 935, 413 N.E.2d 413, 415 (1980). The Illinois Supreme Court has explained that the offense of disorderly conduct “is intended to guard against ‘an invasion of the right of others not to be molested or harassed, either mentally or physically, without justification.’ ” Id. (citation omitted); see also Reher v. Vivo, 656 F.3d 772, 777 (7th Cir.2011) (“An arrest for disorderly conduct is justified when the defendant directly harasses or threatens other people.” (citation omitted)). Deputy Sweeney reasonably could have concluded that Travis “molested or harassed” the animal control officers when he threatened to thump them if they succeeded in capturing Biscuit and that his vulgar threats and childish antics were unreasonable and threatened to provoke a breach of the peace. See Davis, 45 Ill.Dec. 935, 413 N.E.2d at 415-16 (defendant committed disorderly conduct by entering woman’s home, waiving sheets of paper at her, and telling her that if her complaint were prosecuted he would carry out undefined threat); In re D.W., 150 Ill.App.3d 729, 104 Ill.Dec. 156, 502 N.E.2d 419, 420-22 (1986) (juvenile’s statement to another juvenile that he was going to “kick his ass” constituted disorderly conduct); see also Sroga v. Weiglen, 649 F.3d 604, 606-07 (7th Cir.2011) (probable cause to arrest for disorderly conduct where plaintiff jumped on top of car as it was being towed); Biddle, 992 F.2d at 677-78 (probable cause to arrest for disorderly conduct where plaintiff drunkenly had been screaming profanities and making violent arm gestures). Travis contends, however, that his actions neither threatened to provoke nor actually provoked a breach of the peace. He relies on People v. Trester, 96 Ill.App.3d 553, 52 Ill.Dec. 96, 421 N.E.2d 959 (1981), in which the court reversed a defendant’s disorderly conduct conviction on the ground that the defendant’s statement to a police officer—that if the officer “would take off his gun and badge, he, defendant, would punch [the officer] in the nose and they would fight,” id. 52 Ill.Dec. 96, 421 N.E.2d at 960—was “couched in terms of what might happen” and thus could not “be construed as an immediate threat,” id. 52 Ill.Dec. 96, 421 N.E.2d at 961. In effect, Travis makes an immediacy argument similar to that he made above, and just as before, this argument fails. Unlike Trester, in which the threat was contingent on the highly unlikely event that the officer would take off his gun and badge to rumble with the defendant, Travis’s threat was contingent on the animal control officers successfully performing their official duty, capturing Biscuit. Cf. Humphrey v. Staszak, 148 F.3d 719, 728 (7th Cir.1998) (“If an officer has reasonable grounds to believe that further trouble will ensue, he need not wait for the trouble to erupt, but may take lawful steps to prevent the problem.”). Moreover, Trester has been called into question by the court that rendered it. In re D.W., 104 Ill.Dec. 156, 502 N.E.2d at 422. In any event, we are not concerned with whether Travis could have been convicted but only with whether Sweeney had probable cause to arrest him. See Sroga, 649 F.3d at 610 (“And ‘to form a belief of probable cause, an arresting officer is not required ... to act as a judge or jury to determine whether a person’s conduct satisfies all of the essential elements of a particular statute.’ ” (citation omitted)). As indicated above, Sweeney had probable cause to arrest Travis for disorderly conduct; but even if he did not, he would be cloaked with qualified immunity because at the very least he had arguable probable cause. The most that Travis has established is that there is a conflict between In re D.W. and Trester. Therefore, even if we were inclined to find on this record that Sweeney did not actually have probable cause to arrest Travis for disorderly conduct (and we are not so inclined), Sweeney would be entitled to qualified immunity because a reasonable person could have reasonably concluded that there was probable cause based on the holding of In re D.W., 104 Ill.Dec. 156, 502 N.E.2d at 420-22. See Thayer, 705 F.3d at 247 (“ ‘Qualified immunity protects police officers who reasonably interpret an unclear statute.’ ” (brackets omitted) (quoting Mustafa, 442 F.3d at 549)). Deputy Sweeney had probable cause to arrest Travis for assault and for disorderly conduct. Therefore, the district court did not err in granting summary judgment for Deputy Sweeney on Travis’s false-arrest and false-imprisonment claims. 2 Whether there was probable cause to arrest Cindy is a closer question. Sweeney maintains that he had probable cause to arrest her for obstructing or resisting a peace officer. See 720 ILCS 5/31-l(a) (“A person who knowingly resists or obstructs the performance by one known to the person to be a peace officer ... of any authorized act within his official capacity commits a Class A misdemeanor.”). The district court agreed, concluding that there was probable cause that Cindy had attempted to help Travis escape and that she had also resisted arrest. Alternatively, Sweeney contends, and the district court also agreed, that he had arguable probable cause to arrest Cindy and is therefore cloaked with qualified immunity. (i) The district court’s brief probable-cause analysis seems to have hinged on what it viewed as the following undisputed facts: Cindy was “running” toward Sweeney’s squad car screaming while Travis was “going nuts” in the back seat of the squad car, and “Deputy Sweeney thought Cindy was trying to help Travis escape.” The district court’s analysis is flawed for several reasons. First, Cindy testified in her deposition that she was walking, not running, so viewing the facts in her favor, as we must, her outward conduct was not as aggressive as Sweeney’s narrative suggests. Second, it is wholly irrelevant that Sweeney subjectively thought Cindy was trying to help Travis escape because the probable-cause inquiry concerns not what the officer actually believed but what a reasonable person in the officer’s shoes would have believed. See, e.g., Devenpeck, 543 U.S. at 154-55, 125 S.Ct. 588; Whren, 517 U.S. at 813, 116 S.Ct. 1769. (It is likewise irrelevant that Cindy’s subjective intent was to move toward her own vehicle and not the squad car, as she does not dispute that the squad car was in between her and her vehicle.) Finally, and most importantly, the district court failed to consider the totality of the circumstances known to Sweeney at the time, focusing instead on only a small part of the overall picture. Cf. Fox, 600 F.3d at 834 (officers cannot close their eyes to information that cuts against probable cause). Viewing all the facts in Cindy’s favor without regard to the parties’ subjective beliefs, a jury could conclude that no reasonable person could have believed Cindy was attempting to spring Travis. Recall that Cindy was instrumental in effectuating Travis’s arrest; at Sweeney’s request, she went into the house and persuaded Travis to come outside, thereby saving Sweeney from having to obtain an arrest warrant, see Payton v. New York, 445 U.S. 573, 576, 100 S.Ct. 1371, 63 L.Ed.2d 639 (1980). Cindy did not put up a fuss when Travis was handcuffed and instead went inside to use the restroom. She became excited only after Sweeney backed into her vehicle, at which point she began screaming, “I can’t believe you hit my vehicle!” She then “walked” toward the driver’s side of the squad car as Sweeney was attempting to go to the passenger’s side of the squad car to secure Travis. There was at least one other police officer on-scene, not to mention several animal control officers. And though not mentioned by either party, the record also demonstrates that Cindy was a petite woman, whereas Sweeney was a man of somewhat generous proportions, testifying that he was 5'9" and 275 pounds at the time of his deposition. It is true that Travis was acting wildly in the backseat, but it is also true that, moments before, he had been yelling and cursing at Cindy. On this record, there are sufficient questions of fact upon which a jury could find that Sweeney lacked probable cause to arrest Cindy for attempting to help Travis escape. The district court also concluded that Sweeney had probable cause to arrest Cindy for resisting arrest, based on the undisputed facts that she ignored Sweeney’s order to stop and then ignored his order to get down on her stomach. As an initial matter, this account does not adequately consider Cindy’s version of the incident by suggesting that Cindy was standing up when first ordered “to get down on her stomach”; her testimony (and Sweeney’s) indicates that she was not ordered to get on her stomach until after being dropped to the ground by the first shot from the taser. More importantly, the district court failed to pinpoint the moment at which Sweeney arrested or attempted to arrest Cindy, which is necessary to determine whether her actions constituted resisting arrest. See People v. Agnew-Downs, 404 Ill.App.3d 218, 344 Ill.Dec. 24, 936 N.E.2d 166, 173-74, 176 (2010). An arrest, of course, is the archetypical “seizure” of a person under the Fourth Amendment. California v. Hodari D., 499 U.S. 621, 624, 111 S.Ct. 1547, 113 L.Ed.2d 690 (1991). A person is “seized” when his or her freedom of movement is terminated or restrained by intentionally applied physical force or submission to an assertion of authority. Id. at 626, 111 S.Ct. 1547; see also Brendlin v. California, 551 U.S. 249, 254, 127 S.Ct. 2400, 168 L.Ed.2d 132 (2007); Brower v. County of Inyo, 489 U.S. 593, 597, 109 S.Ct. 1378, 103 L.Ed.2d 628 (1989). A seizure rises to the level of an arrest “when a reasonable person in the suspect’s position would have understood the situation to constitute a restraint on freedom of movement of the degree which the law associates with formal arrest.” Ochana v. Flores, 347 F.3d 266, 270 (7th Cir.2003) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). To determine if a seizure, including an arrest, has occurred, courts engage in an objective inquiry that presupposes an innocent person. United States v. Drayton, 536 U.S. 194, 202, 122 S.Ct. 2105, 153 L.Ed.2d 242 (2002); Florida v. Bostick, 501 U.S. 429, 437-38, 111 S.Ct. 2382, 115 L.Ed.2d 389 (1991). It is clear that when Sweeney deployed his taser into Cindy’s abdomen and zapped her with electricity, her freedom of movement was restrained to a degree that the law associates with formal arrest; so at that point she was arrested. See, e.g., Brooks v. City of Aurora, Ill., 653 F.3d 478, 484 (7th Cir.2011) (successful seizure occurred when arrestee was incapacitated by pepper spray). But was she arrested before then? Whether she ran, walked, sauntered, or moseyed, it is undisputed that Cindy approached Sweeney’s position. Sweeney claims that he ordered her to halt before shooting her with his taser, and this too is undisputed because Cindy does not remember one way or the other. This order, however, did not constitute an arrest as it was an assertion of authority to which Cindy did not submit. See Hodari D., 499 U.S. at 629, 111 S.Ct. 1547. Thus, Cindy was not under arrest before she was shot with the taser. Furthermore, Cindy’s alleged defiance of Sweeney’s order to halt did not constitute resistance of an attempted arrest. Suppose Cindy had obeyed Sweeney’s order and had stopped in her tracks—she would not have been deemed arrested or even seized at that point for the reason that Sweeney’s order sought to prevent her from coming rather than going, that is, she was free to go anywhere in the world except closer to the squad car. See United States v. Mendenhall, 446 U.S. 544, 554, 100 S.Ct. 1870, 64 L.Ed.2d 497 (1980) (opinion of Stewart, J.) (‘We conclude that a person has been ‘seized’ within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment only if, in view of all of the circumstances surrounding the incident, a reasonable person would have believed that he was not free to leave.” (emphasis added)); see also Michigan v. Chesternut, 486 U.S. 567, 573, 108 S.Ct. 1975, 100 L.Ed.2d 565 (1988). And even if she would not have felt free to leave the driveway—it was, after all, her home and a handful of strangers were present—a reasonable person in her position would have felt free to terminate the encounter by walking away. See, e.g., Drayton, 536 U.S. at 202, 122 S.Ct. 2105 (explaining that if a person does not feel free to leave for reasons unrelated to the officer’s presence, the inquiry shifts to whether a reasonable person under the circumstances would feel free to terminate the encounter with the officer). Indeed, a jury might conclude that under the circumstances Sweeney was really just trying to avoid a confrontation with Cindy over a collateral matter so that he could attend to what quite sensibly he viewed as the more important task, securing his prisoner. A jury could reasonably determine that, at the time he first deployed his taser, Sweeney lacked probable cause to arrest Cindy for resisting arrest, inasmuch as there had been no arrest or attempted arrest prior to that point. The district court also concluded that Cindy resisted arrest by failing to turn over onto her stomach. This alleged resistance occurred between the first and second jolts from the taser, so if this constitutes resisting arrest it was resistance of an unlawful arrest (based on our analysis up to this point). Illinois law is clear that a person violates section 5/31-l(a) if he or she resists or obstructs even an unlawful arrest made by a known peace officer. Brooks, 653 F.3d at 484; see 720 ILCS 5/7-7; People v. Villarreal, 152 Ill.2d 368, 178 Ill.Dec. 400, 604 N.E.2d 923, 926-28 (1992). The effect of this rule on a § 1983 false-arrest claim was considered in a case where an officer went to the arrestee’s home to arrest him pursuant to an allegedly unlawful warrant, and when the officer grabbed the arrestee’s wrist to handcuff him, he broke free from the officer’s grasp and began backpedaling, thereby prompting the officer to use pepper spray to subdue him. Brooks, 653 F.3d at 481-82, 485. We held that there was no need to determine whether the warrant had been obtained based on fabricated evidence “because, at the time [the arrestee] was seized, the officers had probable cause to arrest him for resisting a peace officer.” Id. at 485. Critical to our analysis was the fact that the arrestee had avoided the officer’s first attempt at a seizure by escaping the officer’s initial grasp—this brief initial grasp was not sufficient to constitute an actual seizure because it did not significantly detain the arrestee. Id.; see also Hodari D., 499 U.S. at 624-26, 111 S.Ct. 1547 (seizure by physical force occurs where officer lays hands on suspect or otherwise applies physical force to restrain suspect’s movement, even if suspect breaks free). The arrest occurred when the arrestee was subdued with pepper spray, and the arrestee’s conduct up to that point provided probable cause to arrest him for resisting arrest. Brooks, 653 F.3d at 484-85. In the present case, however, Cindy remained in the clutches of the taser prongs continuously from the first jolt through the second jolt. The shot and accompanying first jolt of electric current was not a failed attempt at a seizure or a temporary seizure but a successful seizure that was not broken until later that night when Cindy walked out of jail. Unlike Brooks, where the probable-cause determination was made with reference to the second (and successful) attempted seizure, here the probable-cause determination must be made with reference to the first (and successful) attempt at a seizure, the initial deployment of the taser. And, as explained above, there was no probable cause at that time to justify arresting Cindy for resisting arrest. (ii) Up to this point, we have constrained our analysis to the framework employed by the district court and have examined only whether Sweeney had probable cause that Cindy was committing obstruction by trying to help Travis escape or resisting arrest. The district court’s analysis of Cindy’s false-arrest claim was abbreviated, likely because the parties’ submissions themselves were scanty. The parties’ lack of supporting case law is troubling because, as will soon be clear, this is not the first time that this court has been presented with a § 1983 false-arrest claim in which the defendant(s) claims that there was either probable cause or arguable probable cause to arrest the plaintiff for violating 720 ILCS 5/31-l(a); additionally, there is a considerable body of Illinois case law interpreting and applying this statute. To avoid misconstruing Illinois law, we will consider Cindy’s false-arrest claim in the context of this case law. Section 5/31—1(a) proscribes a vast array of conduct, not just attempting to spring someone from custody or resisting arrest. Specifically, a person commits obstruction or resistance of a peace officer when, (1) knowing that one is a peace officer, (2) he or she knowingly resists or obstructs (3) the officer’s performance of an authorized act. 720 ILCS 5/31-l(a); see Agnew-Downs, 344 Ill.Dec. 24, 936 N.E.2d at 174-76. The Illinois Supreme Court has held that section 5/31-1 (a) does “not proscribe mere argument with a policeman about the validity of an arrest or other police action, but proscribe[s] only some physical act which imposes an obsta cle which may impede, hinder, interrupt, prevent[,] or delay the performance of the officer’s duties, such as going limp, forcefully resisting arrest[,] or physically aiding a third party to avoid arrest.” People v. Raby, 40 Ill.2d 392, 240 N.E.2d 595, 599 (1968) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted); see People v. Weathington, 82 Ill.2d 183, 44 Ill.Dec. 496, 411 N.E.2d 862, 863-64 (1980); see also Jones v. Clark, 630 F.3d 677, 684-85 (7th Cir.2011) (no arguable probable cause to arrest meter reader because there was no physical act); Shipman v. Hamilton, 520 F.3d 775, 779 (7th Cir.2008) (no probable cause where nurse never physically resisted officer); Williams v. Jaglowski, 269 F.3d 778, 781-83 (7th Cir.2001) (no arguable probable cause where plaintiff merely refused to give officers her identifying information). In view of the Raby standard, the inquiry here is whether at the time of the arrest a reasonable police officer could have believed that Cindy had undertaken (or was about to undertake) a physical act which imposed an obstacle that impeded, hindered, interrupted, prevented, or delayed Sweeney’s performance of his authorized acts. Though capable of being stated succinctly, the Raby standard for determining whether section 5/31—1(a) has been violated has often proved difficult in application. Perhaps the most straightforward cases of a statutory violation are those in which a person physically scuffles with a police officer performing his or her official duties or attempts to elude the police. See, e.g., People v. Holdman, 73 Ill.2d 213, 22 Ill.Dec. 679, 383 N.E.2d 155, 159 (1978); Raby, 240 N.E.2d at 597, 602; Agnew-Downs, 344 Ill.Dec. 24, 936 N.E.2d at 176. At the other end of the spectrum, the cases in which the statute is not violated, are those involving only verbal argument, e.g., Jones, 630 F.3d at 684-85; Shipman, 520 F.3d at 779; People v. McCoy, 378 Ill.App.3d 954, 317 Ill.Dec. 453, 881 N.E.2d 621, 630-32 (2008), refusal to identify oneself, e.g., Williams, 269 F.3d at 781-83; Weathington, 44 Ill.Dec. 496, 411 N.E.2d at 863-64, and refusal of officers’ request to enter where they have no right to do so, e.g., People v. Cope, 299 Ill.App.3d 184, 233 Ill.Dec. 522, 701 N.E.2d 165, 169-71 (1998); People v. Hilgenberg, 223 Ill.App.3d 286, 165 Ill.Dec. 784, 585 N.E.2d 180, 183-86 (1991). The greatest difficulty lies in determining the point at which mere verbal argument or refusal to act becomes an act of physical resistance or obstruction. See People v. Ostrowski 394 Ill.App.3d 82, 333 Ill.Dec. 139, 914 N.E.2d 558, 571 (2009) (“Passive acts that impede an officer’s ability to perform his duties, such as repeatedly refusing an officer’s order to exit a vehicle, may also violate section 31—1(a).”); McCoy, 317 Ill.Dec. 453, 881 N.E.2d at 637 (McDade, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part) (“While section 31-1 does require an individual to comply with a peace officer’s authorized actions, it does not call for complete and immediate submission.”). Compare Sroga, 649 F.3d at 608 (“Although merely arguing with a police officer does not violate the statute, [plaintiff] both times went beyond argument by refusing to desist from behavior that was obstructing the efforts of the police to enable his car to be towed.” (internal citations omitted)), City of Chicago v. Meyer, 44 Ill.2d 1, 253 N.E.2d 400, 402-03 (1969) (affirming conviction where defendant refused to obey lawful order of dispersal after protest got out of hand), People v. Gordon, 408 Ill.App.3d 1009, 350 Ill.Dec. 213, 948 N.E.2d 282, 287-88 (2011) (affirming conviction where defendant refused lawful dispersal order and instead yelled profanities and threats at officers, while his cohort, who had been arrested, attempted to escape), and People v. Martinez, 307 Ill.App.3d 368, 240 Ill.Dec. 442, 717 N.E.2d 535, 538-39 (1999) (probable cause to arrest where arrestee stood between officer and motorist that officer was attempting to question and where officer was unable to concentrate on questioning due to concern over arrestee’s proximity), with Gonzalez v. City of Elgin, 578 F.3d 526, 538 (7th Cir.2009) (“The [district] court thought that probable cause existed because each of these plaintiffs approached the defendant officers while those officers were attempting to arrest another of the plaintiffs. But, without more evidence, there is nothing wrong in itself with approaching a police officer.”), People v. Kotlinski, 355 Ill.Dec. 497, 959 N.E.2d 1230, 1238-40 (Ill.App.Ct.2011) (reversing conviction where defendant exited vehicle; officers ordered him back into vehicle; defendant complied 21 seconds later; and total elapsed time defendant was not in vehicle was 47 seconds), People v. Berardi, 407 Ill.App.3d 575, 350 Ill.Dec. 29, 948 N.E.2d 98, 103-04 (2011) (reversing conviction where defendant had refused to leave private office space in public building and instead had argued that he had authority to be there; dispute lasted only a short time and defendant then complied with officer’s request), and People v. Stoudt, 198 Ill.App.3d 124, 144 Ill.Dec. 466, 555 N.E.2d 825, 827-28 (1990) (charges dismissed where defendants refused officer’s dispersal order). The kerfuffle here falls somewhere in this middle ground. Cindy did not flee or physically clash with Sweeney, but along with arguing and yelling she did not comply with his order to stop approaching. Reasonable minds could differ as to whether Cindy’s conduct was more like that involved in cases like Meyer, 253 N.E.2d at 402-03 (refusal to disperse), Gordon, 350 Ill.Dec. 213, 948 N.E.2d at 287-88 (refusal to disperse and threatening officers while cohort attempting to escape), and Martinez, 240 Ill.Dec. 442, 717 N.E.2d at 538-39 (physical proximity interfered with officer’s questioning of third party), and therefore violated section Si-lla), or whether it was more akin to the conduct involved in cases like Gonzalez, 578 F.3d at 538 (nothing inherently wrong with approaching officers while they were attempting to arrest others), Kotlinski, 355 Ill.Dec. 497, 959 N.E.2d at 1238-40 (incident occurred over less than a minute), Berardi, 350 Ill.Dec. 29, 948 N.E.2d at 103-04 (refused officer’s order to leave office building and kept arguing), or Stoudt, 144 Ill.Dec. 466, 555 N.E.2d at 827-28 (refusal to disperse when ordered), and therefore not a crime. But we need not determine whether there was probable cause, for the simple fact that reasonable minds could differ as to the meaning of the law leads to the conclusion that Sweeney is shielded by qualified immunity. See Hunter, 502 U.S. at 229, 112 S.Ct. 534 (“The qualified immunity standard ‘gives ample room for mistaken judgments’ by protecting ‘all but the plainly incompetent or those who knowingly violate the law.’ ” (quoting Malley, 475 U.S. at 341, 343, 106 S.Ct. 1092)); Thayer, 705 F.3d at 247, 2012 WL 6621169, at *6 (“ ‘Qualified immunity protects police officers who reasonably interpret an unclear statute.’ ” (brackets omitted) (quoting Mustafa, 442 F.3d at 549)). Once a defendant raises the defense of qualified immunity, the plaintiff bears the burden of defeating it either by identifying a closely analogous case or by persuading the court that the conduct is so egregious and unreasonable that, notwithstanding the lack of an analogous decision, no reasonable officer could have thought he was acting lawfully. E.g., Wheeler v. Lawson, 539 F.3d 629, 639 (7th Cir.2008). Cindy has done neither. Therefore, the district court did not err in granting summary judgment to Sweeney on Cindy’s false-arrest and false-imprisonment claims. B Although fatal to the Abbotts’ false-arrest and false-imprisonment claims, the existence of probable cause (or arguable probable cause) to arrest does not affect their excessive-force claims, given that the reasonableness of an arrest or other seizure under the Fourth Amendment depends not only on when it is made but also on how it is made, see Tennessee v. Garner, 471 U.S. 1, 7-8, 105 S.Ct. 1694, 85 L.Ed.2d 1 (1985). Put differently, even when an officer has probable cause to arrest, the Fourth Amendment prohibits him from employing “ ‘greater force than [is] reasonably necessary to make the arrest.’ ” Gonzalez, 578 F.3d at 539 (quoting Lester v. City of Chicago, 830 F.2d 706, 713 (7th Cir.1987)). A claim that an officer employed excessive force in arresting a person is evaluated under the Fourth Amendment’s objective-reasonableness standard. Scott v. Harris, 550 U.S. 372, 381, 127 S.Ct. 1769, 167 L.Ed.2d 686 (2007); Brosseau v. Haugen, 543 U.S. 194, 197, 125 S.Ct. 596, 160 L.Ed.2d 583 (2004) (per curiam); Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386, 388, 395, 109 S.Ct. 1865, 104 L.Ed.2d 443 (1989); Garner, 471 U.S. at 7-12, 105 S.Ct. 1694. The reasonableness standard is incapable “of precise definition or mechanical application.” Graham, 490 U.S. at 396, 109 S.Ct. 1865 (quoting Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520, 559, 99 S.Ct. 1861, 60 L.Ed.2d 447 (1979)). It requires courts to “ ‘balance the nature and quality of the intrusion on the individual’s Fourth Amendment interests against the importance of the governmental interests alleged to justify the intrusion.’ ” Scott, 550 U.S. at 383, 127 S.Ct. 1769 (brackets omitted) (quoting United States v. Place, 462 U.S. 696, 703, 103 S.Ct. 2637, 77 L.Ed.2d 110 (1983)). In judging the reasonableness of any particular use of force, we consider factors such as the severity of the crime, whether the arrestee poses an immediate threat to the safety of the officers or others, and whether he or she is actively resisting arrest or attempting to flee and evade arrest. Graham, 490 U.S. at 396, 109 S.Ct. 1865; Abdullahi v. City of Madison, 423 F.3d 763, 768 (7th Cir.2005). The reasonableness of the force used depends on the totality of the facts and circum stances known to the officer at the time the force is applied. Garner, 471 U.S. at 8-9, 105 S.Ct. 1694; Phillips v. Cmty. Ins. Corp., 678 F.3d 513, 519 (7th Cir.2012). It is an objective inquiry, the dispositive question being “ ‘whether, in light of the facts and circumstances that confronted the officer (and not 20/20 hindsight), the officer behaved in an objectively reasonable manner,’ ” Padula v. Leimbach, 656 F.3d 595, 602 (7th Cir.2011) (quoting McAllister v. Price, 615 F.3d 877, 881 (7th Cir.2010)), irrespective of the officer’s un derlying intent or motivation. See Graham, 490 U.S. at 397, 109 S.Ct. 1865; Bell v. Irwin, 321 F.3d 637, 640 (7th Cir.2003). In answering this question, we remain cognizant of “the fact that police officers are often forced to make split-second judgments—in circumstances that are tense, uncertain, and rapidly evolving—-about the amount of force that is necessary in a particular situation.” Graham, 490 U.S. at 397, 109 S.Ct. 1865. As a result, we “give considerable leeway to law enforcement officers’ assessments about the appropriate use of force in dangerous situations.” Baird v. Renbarger, 576 F.3d 340, 344 (7th Cir.2009). Qualified immunity, in effect, affords enhanced deference to officers’ on-scene judgments about the level of necessary force. See Saucier, 533 U.S. at 204-05, 121 S.Ct. 2151. This is so because, even if the plaintiffs demonstrate that excessive force was used, they must further establish that it was objectively unreasonable for the officer to believe that the force was lawful—i.e., they must demonstrate that the right to be free from the particular use of force under the relevant circumstances was “clearly established.” See, e.g., al-Kidd, 131 S.Ct. at 2080. A constitutional right is “clearly established” for qualified-immunity purposes where “[t]he contours of the right [are] sufficiently clear that a reasonable official would understand that what he is doing violates that right.” Anderson, 483 U.S. at 640, 107 S.Ct. 3034; see also United States v. Lanier, 520 U.S. 259, 270, 117 S.Ct. 1219, 137 L.Ed.2d 432 (1997); Estate of Escobedo v. Bender, 600 F.3d 770, 779 (7th Cir.2010). “In other words, ‘existing precedent must have placed the ... constitutional question beyond debate.’ ” Reichle v. Howards, — U.S. -, 132 S.Ct. 2088, 2093, 182 L.Ed.2d 985 (2012) (quoting al-Kidd, 131 S.Ct. at 2083). Travis and Cindy both limit their excessive-force claims to Deputy Sweeney’s use of his taser on them. Before addressing the merits of their contentions on appeal, it is useful to pin down the quantum of force exacted by Sweeney’s taser, which represents the nature and significance of the governmental intrusion on their Fourth Amendment interests. See Phillips, 678 F.3d at 521; Deorle v. Rutherford, 272 F.3d 1272, 1279 (9th Cir.2001). Although Deputy Sweeney used the same device, a model X26 Taser, on both Cindy and Travis, he did not employ it in the same manner—he used the taser in dart mode on Cindy and in drivestun mode on Travis. In dart mode, the X26 uses compressed nitrogen to propel two “probes” toward the target at somewhere between 160 and 180 feet per second. The probes are aluminum darts tipped with steel barbs and are connected to the device by insulated wires, which are about twenty-five feet in length. Once the probes strike the target, the officer pulls the trigger and the device delivers 50,000 volts of electric current, but the amount of voltage that enters the target’s body is closer to 1200 volts. These high-voltage electric waves “overpower the normal electrical signals within the [target’s] nerve fibers”; they “override the central nervous system[] and take[] direct control of the skeletal muscles.” “The impact is as powerful as it is swift. The electr